Snapshots
by EarmuffedAmazon
Summary: Short Stories Concerning Characters from Dark Angel About Whatever Strikes My Fancy! Many Will Contain M/A-Though I Might Try My Hand at a Few Others...
1. Chapter 1

_Okay, I'm almost done with my final edits for part two of Rune (it's a LONG one!) but I'm stuck on one part…so I'm challenging myself to a quick write off. Gotta get those creative, problem solving juices going! Ah, the joys of writing on my break at work. So, I'm throwing out a few words as prompts and giving myself a little time to write for each…here are the results! They involve characters from across the board…but we all know how I love M/A…_

_Oh, and I Disclaim. I don't own DA, in any way, shape or form. I'd love to own Alec though._

**Water –Rated K**

"Where's Alec?"

Mole turned to face a bewildered Max. He rolled his eyes and started walking towards the main entrance of Command. Max turned to follow him.

"What do you want with Princess?" Mole squinted back at her.

"I don't want anything from him, the idiot told me to come to Command." Max's patented scowl finally made an appearance. "It sounded important…but nobody's around." Max glanced around at the skeleton crew moving through Command.

Mole snorted and swung the door open. Bright sunshine beat down on the dingy concrete. Max squinted at the transhuman. Seattle was currently enjoying as close to a heat wave as it could get. No rain for a couple of days, and the hot sun made Mole unusually chipper.

It was a little frightening, actually.

"Where's your shotgun?" Max wearily eyed his new choice of weapon. A little chill of fear skated its way down her spine.

They wouldn't dare.

"You know Max, I'm really surprised you didn't see this coming…" Mole drawled spinning to face her and causally lowering the bright green double barrel pump action water gun on her torso. Max spun around to head back for the safety of Command only to find Dalton leaning in the doorway two heavy water balloons in each of his fists.

"Going somewhere?" He asked with an arched eyebrow.

"This is mutiny!" Max growled.

"This is payback." Mole chuckled from behind her.

When she moved forward menacingly, Joshua appeared behind Dalton, a pink plastic gun of his own looking ridiculously tiny in his huge hands.

"Joshua, -" Max began pleading with her eyes.

"Now Maxie, -"Alec's voice drawled evilly from behind her. "That won't do any good. I've already secured the Big Fella to my Campaign."

Max spun back to face Alec and Mole, both with annoyingly bright plastic guns filled with water. Max focused her eyes on Alec's smirking face, promising a slow death with the tightening of her fists. He just chuckled, amusement making his green eyes shine bright. He waved his orange gun vaguely at her.

"I told you that I'd have my revenge for last week…but you didn't take me seriously…did you?" Alec tilted his head to the side, watching her reactions with delight.

Max's eyebrow twitched.

"If you know what's good for you-" Max snarled.

Alec pumped the lever on his gun ominously.

Max switched tactics holding her hands out in a posture of defeat. If she could just get a little closer to the corner of the building, she could duck behind it and blur away. Once she was safe, she could begin planning her own counter-attack.

Just because she'd gotten annoyed with Alec's inane chattering on the last E.O. mission and shoved him off the ledge into the sewer like sludge pond….Not like he hadn't sort of deserved it…and she'd had to smell him all the way home so wasn't that punishment enough?

"Let's talk about this Alec…it wasn't that bad!"

"Alec stink real bad. Joshua had to spend the night with Mole. Not cool." Joshua spoke up from behind her. His tone was less than pleased. Max winced. She tended to forget that his nose was even more sensitive than theirs was. Big Fella wasn't too pleased that his roommate still stank…even after several showers.

Max took a careful step to the right.

Alec's eyes narrowed in sudden distrust.

"Boys? Pattern Alpha."

Max squealed as she was hit from all sides with icy water, drenching through her layers of black clothing. She stood frozen for a minute, panting heavily at the shock to her system. She was going to kill him.

"I'm going to kill you."

"Oh, Maxie…you'd have to catch me first." Alec waggled his eyebrows at her.

Just as she took a step toward Alec, to wipe that unbelievably smug look off his face, she was hit in the back of the head with a water balloon.

"Hey!" Turning back to grab at Dalton she saw that both he and Joshua had beat a hasty retreat. Whipping back around she found a slight swirling of dust where her erstwhile Seconds had stood a moment before.

"Damn it!"

**Practice- Rated T**

"How predictable."

Max froze, slowly spinning around to face Ames White standing in the doorframe. The click of the safety on his shinning pistol was loud in the room.

"Ames, long time no see. Can I just tell you how much I haven't missed you?" Max drawled out slowly. She kept her hands down and loose at her sides watching for an opening to strike. She peered around behind him. "What? No backup? I'm flattered." Max said sarcastically and batted her eyelashes at him.

White barked out a harsh laugh.

"I don't need back up 452. We've got some unfinished business regarding my son."

"Really? Cause last time we tangled I seem to recall that I stayed the hand of judgment." She turned and cocked her head to the side. "Alec did say it would come back and bite me in the ass."

White just smiled at her before gesturing with his gun.

"Your mistake." White took a half-step closer. "Step away from the computer. You won't find anything to help you with your little virus anyway." His smile didn't reach his eyes. "You didn't think that after your little stay at the hospital we wouldn't use that as an avenue against you?"

When Max just glared at him, White made a tsk'ing sound.

"Like I said...predictable."

With a flash and a loud boom White pulled the trigger. Max grunted as a bright flash of pain hit her low in her right hip. Max pressed a hand to the wound and her fingers came away smeared in blood.

"You know, I've thought about this for a long time. Every day." White sauntered closer and before Max could react he swung the butt of the gun against her head. Max saw stars and fell on the floor with a gasp. "Ran through every possible scenario. Practice, as they say makes perfect."

Max blinked furiously, trying to clear her head. She could see a pool of blood beginning to form beneath her.

"Yeah, well. Perfect isn't so great let me tell you." She muttered. White ignored her, seemingly happy to continue to tell her all about his nefarious plan. Was it a specific bad guy thing, or was her luck really that crappy?

"Oh, and don't count on any help from 494. I learned from my previous mistakes with him." White mimicked another shot. Max looked at him in surprise and horror.

"You're lying." Max ground out, coming back up on her hands and knees.

"I would've preferred to kill him with my bare hands, but alas-I had to make sure you didn't get away again." White shrugged nonchalantly. "But, no matter. I've paid him back for all the trouble he's given me…he's helped you for the last time."

Tears pricked her eyes, throat tightening. He wasn't dead-he wasn't. She'd have heard the shot. But there had been that strange sound…

"Now the icing on the cake would be if that trace finally does give us Eyes Only…we were so close last time." White crouched down and put a hand beneath her chin, tilting her face up. Max put every ounce of hate into her glare.

"Now that I've cut you off…care to tell me where my son is 452?"

Max spat in his face.

White dropped her face and backhanded her. Max flew back against the wall. She watched as he wiped his face. Max licked at the blood on her lip.

"Guess I'll just have to test my powers of persuasion on you, hmm?" White growled and reached out to wrap his hands around her throat.

Max used her right hand to try and pry his fingers back. She was seeing black spots swimming into her vision. Her left hand raked down his cheek. White remained unfazed and tightened his grip.

"Tell me where my son is!" He snarled at her.

Max wheezed.

"What was that 452?" White brought his face closer to hers. He watched her move her mouth as if trying to speak.

"Oh, this is even better than I imagined. If you can't give me my son, I'll just have to find a way to get Eyes Only to talk won't I? Good thing I've got lots of practice making pitiful people talk."

Max's vision was narrowing. She added an extra burst of energy; she had to keep White away from Logan.

Next thing she could process was White flying away from her with a dull thud as he smashed into the far wall. She shook her head.

"What?" Max said in confusion.

"Max?"

_Alec. Thank god._

Alec touched her shoulder and she swung her gaze to his battered face.

"Alec, what? He said you were dead!" Amazement and something like relief rolled through her.

Alec smirked and stumbled to his knees to land next to her. He dropped a hunk of wood at her feet.

"Basterd pushed me out a god-damned window!" Alec sounded incredulous at the notion. "But lucky for us I landed on my feet." He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "More or less. Leastwise as much as you can after falling four stories."

Max choked out a laugh. It hurt to talk, and she could feel her throat swelling. Her laugh turned into a hiss when Alec pressed his palm to her hip, trying to stanch the flow of blood.

"You know, you get shot in the gut nearly as often as I get shot in the shoulder." Alec shook his head before stiffening up when he heard White groan. "Damn. We'd better get moving, I guess his head _is_ as thick as mine."

Max clutched her side as another hysterical laugh bubbled out of her. She swatted his shoulder.

"Stop making me _laugh_ dumbass. Can you drive?"

Alec looked sheepishly at her.

"No, unless you've suddenly developed the ability to reproduce asexually which wouldn't surprise me-" He moved back avoiding her hand "I've got a mother of a concussion, and a couple of cracked ribs. Good thing I radioed Mole for a pick-up when I came around, huh?"

"Yeah." Max ground out as Alec pulled her to her feet. Alec let her lean on the wall to catch her breath. He looked at her worriedly.

"You gonna be able to make it down the stairs?"

"Yeah." She couldn't seem to pull her thoughts into anything more coherent at the moment. The bullet wound was throbbing and she could feel her blood pound in her head with her heartbeat.

"Good, cause I-" Alec was cut off by a line tackle from a not-so unconscious White.

Blood poured down the left half of his face, giving him a gory mask. His teeth stood out white against the blood. End over end they kept grappling for dominance. A loud clink made Max blink and look down towards her feet. There, next to the leg of the computer desk lay White's gun.

Her gaze was drawn back to the fight by the choking sounds Alec was making. White had grabbed the piece of wood Alec had dropped earlier and was pressing viciously down. It was taking everything Alec had to keep him from completely crushing his windpipe.

"You can never have enough practice in killing transgenics, can you 494?" White cooed down at him.

It was now or never. Max bent down with a silent cry to grab at the gun. She felt nothing but revulsion when she touched the icy cold metal.

"I think I should make it an everyday occurrence, don't you?" White pressed down further and the sound Alec made, it twisted something in her very soul.

"I used to practice this daily too." Max snarled cocking the pistol. With steady, unwavering aim she put a bullet between Special Agent Ames White eyes.

White rolled off of Alec, and Alec started gasping when the pressure of the beam left his throat. Max stared dully at White's unmoving form, and dropped the gun with a clatter to the floor.

"Max?" Alec turned wide eyes on her. She blinked back at him. The world was starting to darken a little around the edges.

"Alec, let's go home."

**Window- Rated K**

It was another gloomy day outside.

Joshua peeked through the slit in the boards covering the windows of Father's house. The weather didn't change a lot here, even out in the real world. He slid his finger through the dust that had gathered on the pane.

It got lonely here, sometimes.

Max and Alec stopped by a lot…but Joshua was still alone most of the day.

Not even painting or reading or even Alec's boob tube could keep him occupied for long. So he'd taken to watching the people in the neighborhood walk by.

The old lady waiting for the mailman.

The kids playing with their skateboards. Joshua liked to watch them. They seemed so free, and happy.

It made Joshua think about why Father had made him this way. Different from everybody else outside.

Why he was inside watching the world through his dusty little window and wondering when he would finally get to be a part of the world beyond it.

_End._

_Okay. It feels good to churn something out. Now let's hope I've cleared enough blockage to get the rest of Rune out this week! Reviews, as always are most welcome. _


	2. Chapter 2

_I disclaim. I own nothing of Dark Angel. I am making no profit-I'm just having some fun playing with the characters.  
_

**Pursuit of Happiness**

...

It's not like he hasn't lost someone before. It's nothing new to him, hadn't been new since he was five years old.

But there was something visceral and damning with the knowledge that he'd become compliant, arrogant. So sure of his own superiority that he'd always be able to get out of whatever jam he'd landed in.

The bomb in the back of his head should've reminded him. Rachel should've reminded him. He _should_ have known.

No where is safe. No where is home. Fairytales are grim, sad tales where the hero's die in the pursuit of happiness more often that not. Max's fairytales don't exist. If he needed no other proof all he had to do was remember Biggs hanging in the street dead. His eye practically hanging from it's socket from being beat so savagely with their crowbars, their weapons.

Dead and gone and a testament; a reminder to Alec on the most visceral level since he was seven and killed another X-5 in combat training.

They weren't people. They were not normal. Max lived in a dream world he could no longer play in and expect to survive. Biggs is dead because of him. Because he convinced him to stay in Seattle.

It has all been nothing but a beautiful, terrible dream and Alec wants out.

He leaves at dawn, moving east into the rising sun with a stolen car. Josh is the only one he thinks he might regret leaving. But Joshua will understand. He's the only one who knew. Who saw the darkness that surrounds them at every turn. Who went with him that night to kill the ones who'd killed Biggs. He hasn't said goodbye. He doesn't need to. He's not a part of the fairytale anymore.

There is no happy ending.

...

"Mmmmm..."

Max turns toward the low sound of pleasure coming from her best friend. "Cindy, what are you doing?"

OC tips her head back and tosses something bright into her mouth. "Mmmmm, girl I'm finding my own little slice of heaven right here on earth."

Max glances around the miscreants that populate Jampony and scoffs. "Here? Heaven? Are you tripping on something?"

"I'm tripping on the sweet and sour courtesy of your boy."

"What!"

"Boy's got a hand in every kind of contraband there is. I told him I'd make it worth his while if he got me some of those sugar coated sour little shorties." Cindy popped another little flash of color into her waiting mouth then licked the ends of her fingers in ecstasy. "Now OC's got to come up with something suitable to pay the boy back with."

Max gaped at OC as she strode over to Alec; a look in her eye she usually only gave to fine looking honey's on the prowl. Her jaw dropped at the site of her very, very lesbian friend leaning into Alec and fluttering her eyelashes up at him. Alec smirked down at her, seemingly oblivious to the looks of astonishment he was gathering from the room. He bent his head while OC murmured something in his ear that made his face light up.

This was so not good.

Before Max could run over and demand what he'd drugged OC with, she'd pulled back and pressed her fingers to her lips before touching them to his cheek.

"There ya go honey. A little sugar for you. For getting OC a little sour." Cindy winked at Alec and sauntered back nonchalantly to Max as if she hadn't just grown an extra head and practically fawned over a man...much less Alec.

"You wanna explain to me what in the hell that was about?" Max growled a flush warming her face. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't stand Alec!"

OC looked at her as if she were the one who was acting all kinds of crazy. "Now where would you go and get a fool idea like that from?" She flipped her discarded messenger bag over her shoulder and nodded towards the exit. "You coming?" When Max just stared at her, OC shrugged and turned to leave. "Suit yourself."

As soon as she was gone Max stomped over to Alec and shoved her finger into his chest. "I don't know what your game is, but I swear Alec you'd better not mess with OC or-"

Laughter interrupted her tirade as Alec fell back against the wall barely containing his mirth.

"Mess with OC? What are you talking about Max? Does it look like I have a death wish?" He blinked his hazel-green eyes at her. "What makes you think I'm messing with OC?"

Max pulled back and frowned. How did one put into words that he, being a playa-player shouldn't be making her friend act all crazy and straight without it sounding offensive? So Max just decided to bypass the details and get right to the heart of the matter. "What was in that candy you gave her? She was acting all...nice to you!"

This time Alec didn't try to stifle the laughter. Max glared at him trying to freeze him to death. When that inevitably failed she popped him round the back of the head. "Ow! Hey!" He protested as she turned and marched away.

"I'll figure out what you're up to Alec, mark my words."

"Oh, mark my words Alec-I will discover your devious plan of being nice to a friend and expose you for the cruel candy giving villain that you are! Mwwwahahaha!" Alec mocked her in a high pitched tone. Max merely threw her gloves at his head. He ducked and with a grin headed for the exit ramp himself. "Too bad you aren't nicer to your good ole buddy Alec here or you too could be participating in some nice, sweet treats, eh?"

Max pressed her fists into her hips. "Whatever." She replied with a toss of her long chesnut hair.

"Whatever." Alec repeated. "Nice retort there Maxie. You ever run out of those zingers?" He gave her a mock salute before he was out the door whistling.

"Yeah, I got another one here for you _buddy_ !" Max bellowed after him. "You suck!"

...

They didn't understand why he did it. Why he smoked cigars everyday in this day and age when they were so hard to come by. They couldn't understand how they made him, if even just for a moment, happy.

It was like sucking in dry dessert heat. A burst of warmth in cold, dreary Seattle.

"Mole?" A hesitant voice from the doorway.

"Whaddya want?" He growled in response.

A small box of cigars appeared on the table out of the corner of his eye.

"For you." Joshua placed the box down and slipped back through the door. After he was gone, Mole opened the top and pulled a fresh one out. He took a moment to inhale deeply before peeling away the wrap. He struck a match and sucked in that first breath of air, of freedom.

It was sweet.

...

_I am still working on my other projects...I just sat down and these started pouring out. So I thought I would just get them out of the way. I hope you enjoy._


End file.
